Clapton- The Music

[PeterCornelius]

I love the John Mayall album - I don't think he ever surpassed that. He never sounded better. I like some of Cream's stuff.

And that's where Clapton becomes ... boring. There are a couple of good moments - the solo on Bad Love is superb, but the production is synthetic. On most of his later records, he's phoning it in.

I had a friend, sadly passed away, who was in the same AA group as Clapton for a while. He described him as the most morose person he'd ever met. At one point Page was attending those meetings as well!

[greenman]

Really its post smack layoff I think Clapton becomes rather dull, also the point at which he's having to carry things by himself a lot more.

Left to his own devices he just seemed to end up with MOR blues, best thing I'v heard from him after that point was the stuff he did ontour with Santana in 75 injecting a bit of energy to it.

[Pink Gregory]

I maintain that, had Hendrix lived, he would have made some very good music in the 80s.

[the science eel]

Almost no surviving 60s artist had a good 80s. What makes you think Hendrix would have been different?

[greenman]

Almost no surviving 60s artist had a good 80s. What makes you think Hendrix would have been different?

Hendrix avoiding the shift to stadium rock doesnt seem that unlikely to be given the direction his career was going, was talk of him working with Miles Davis wasnt there?

[famethrowa]

Almost no surviving 60s artist had a good 80s. What makes you think Hendrix would have been different?

Tina Turner had a pretty great 80s, he coulda done that?

[Golden E. Pump]

Think Michael Jackson had a decent 80s, to be fair. Couple of minor hits.

[The Culture Bunker]

Tina Turner had a pretty great 80s, he coulda done that?

I read it more in artistic terms rather than commercial. After all, the likes of Steve Winwood, George Harrison and Roy Orbison enjoyed big selling albums in the second half of the decade, though poor Roy obviously suffered the flipside of dying. Could maybe even count Peter Gabriel and Genesis, given their first album was in 1969. Though you'd have a bit of job making a case for any of those albums to be the best work of anyone involved.

[Goldentony]

the music tina turner made in the 80s belongs in a blast furnace, its some of the worst shit tsunami of sound possible

[the science eel]

the music tina turner made in the 80s belongs in a blast furnace, its some of the worst shit tsunami of sound possible

aye

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

The musical equivalent of tile grout.

[TheMonk]

Could maybe even count Peter Gabriel and Genesis, given their first album was in 1969. Though you'd have a bit of job making a case for any of those albums to be the best work of anyone involved.

To me 1980-86 is peak Genesis and related solo. Just amazingly consistent and speedily released output.

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

I can't speak for all guitarists, but Clapton's influence is negligible on most people I've known who played. All the usual suspects of that era are on most people's lists: Hendrix, Page, Beck, Peter Green, Blackmore etc etc. Clapton? Not a chance, his simplistic early blues interpretations and turgid MOR shite in the 70s hasn't made much of a dent on the mindset of the guitar world.

Plus, he's a cunt.

[Egyptian Feast]

I can't speak for all guitarists, but Clapton's influence is negligible on most people I've known who played.

I've known plenty of guitarists who revere him, but more often than not it's the ones with generally terrible music taste.

[The Culture Bunker]

I can't speak for all guitarists, but Clapton's influence is negligible on most people I've known who played.

I know what you mean. I'm 40, and back when I was playing in bands (up to five or six years ago), the guitarists from that generation that would get namedropped would be mainly Hendrix and Page, to a lesser degree. I knew plenty who would enthuse about George Harrison*, Steve Cropper or Roger McGuinn - but never anyone who'd praise Clapton.

Not being much of a muso (obv, as I played bass), I was never sure if this was because of the racism or his playing being as boring to other guitarists as it was to my ears.

*something from that 'Get Back' series that did sadden me was George talking about Clapton in awe. I thought 'come on, Georgie boy, your playing is miles more listenable than that shit'.

[LynnBenfield69]

Even though we know pentatonic noodling is boring as shite, to guitarists who lack virtuosity - such as Harrison - I can see why Clapton must have looked like a God at the time. I can also see how Hendrix wouldn't factor into the same conversation with his magic negro otherworldliness.

Within the the narrow definitions of white English guitarists in the 60s, Clapton was sadly the best on offer. Even though he is dull as shit.

[the science eel]

To me 1980-86 is peak Genesis and related solo. Just amazingly consistent and speedily released output.

Crikey.

[Pauline Walnuts]

[TheGingerAlien]

Within the the narrow definitions of white English guitarists in the 60s, Clapton was sadly the best on offer.

Peter Green was better than Claptrap in the 60s.  Fact x importance = news.

[SpiderChrist]

I would just like to go on record by stating that I don't care for this Clapton chappy; his music, his politics, his personality, his stupid fucking face, the lot.

[phantom_power]

Guitar bore + Blues bore + "real music" bore = superfuckingmega bore = Clapton fan

Clapton, for people who think Status Quo are too edgy and authentic

[LynnBenfield69]

Also he has tiny Trump-like hands

[timebug]

For me, Clapton can be summed up in a few bits: Most (not all) of the Mayall 'Beano' album, 'Fresh Cream' and parts of 'Disraeli Gears' and the 'Edge of Darkness' soundtrack E.P. That'll do, anything else is just (IMO) bloat!

[NoSleep]

Also he has tiny Trump-like hands

Eric "Trumphand" Clapton

[NoSleep]

The only guitarist I can think of who sounds like they were directly influenced by Clapton is John Mayer, who also seems to have been equally influenced by Mark Knopfler. Mayer said he was trolling with his last album, which is a dull as shit retread of bland 80's pap, but I see American guitarists fawning over every last note of this diluted pallette (I wonder if they were in on the joke - I know Mayer was sending gifts of custom strats to them all during the launch of the album).

This a pisstake, surely? (and only one of a string of similar videos from numerous guitarists):

[TheGingerAlien]

The only guitarist I can think of who sounds like they were directly influenced by Clapton is John Mayer.

I always had him down as another SRV wannabee, albeit for tweens.  If the above is true, it's a bizarre move to put out a 'troll' album.  Why dilute your back catalogue with more shite, deliberately?

Is Eric Johnson not influenced by Claptoot?  He's another player that I never quite got.  Just didn't seem (IMHO) to have a feel for the music that matched the high praise from other guitar players/fans.

Speaking of SRV - I was just reflecting on the fact that if it were not for Eric Clapton he might still be alive now.  Not pinning 100% blame on Clappers here, maybe like 98% - with the other 2% attributed to weather conditions and helicopter pilot.

[Pauline Walnuts]

When it comes to The Cream I quite like the neanderthal playing and sound of Live Volume II

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBHh2d4zhV8&list=OLAK5uy_kvQq9ZjKzAp9rhM3_wLmTRsOQu7Js0SIA&index=1

_{See, I can say nice things}

[Video Game Fan 2000]

Almost no surviving 60s artist had a good 80s. What makes you think Hendrix would have been different?

Considering his tastes, I think its likely Hendrix would have fallen head over heals for some form of experimental or improv music and devoted himself to that - pretty much as happened when he heard the UK electric blues scene. Imagining him still doing rock n roll in late 70s is like imagining Miles Davis going back to cool in the 60s.

Hendrix was the biggest loss because he talked passionately about where he wanted music to go in the future, and he died right about the avantgarde tendencies in the genres him loved started to become accessible to wider audiences. He never got hear dub or fully electronic music. Or Funkadelic.

[Petey Pate]

I keep misreading this thread title as 'Clapton - The Musical' and imagining some nightmarish Ben Elton collaboration.

[Pauline Walnuts]

Hendrix was the biggest loss because he talked passionately about where he wanted music to go in the future, and he died right about the avantgarde tendencies in the genres him loved started to become accessible to wider audiences. He never got hear dub or fully electronic music. Or Funkadelic.

First Funkadelic album was Feburary 1970, so it's possible he heard it, and as I like to say 'It's like Jimi Hendrix on drugs'.